Luke 6:6

Luke 6:6

The Bible says concerning Jesus in Luke 6:6-7, "And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught; and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him." We are given another lesson where Jesus taught us about the Sabbath. Principally Jesus was teaching that too many restrictions had been placed upon the Sabbath. After all, God gave us the Sabbath day not to restrict us, but for our benefit and enjoyment. Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man.

Earlier in Luke chapter six in the case of plucking the ears of grain and preparing food on the Sabbath, Jesus was showing that there is nothing wrong with doing what you must do to meet the needs of life on the Sabbath. Don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot do your work on the Sabbath if it’s work that must be done in order to put food on the table. They are wrong and they are making the same mistake that was made by the Pharisees who were the enemies of Jesus. If you choose to not work on the Sabbath or on Sunday, because you have a place to go where you can learn more about God’s Word on that day, then you have made an honorable and wise decision. But the decision is yours. You are free to do the one or the other. There is no law from God that restricts you in such a case.

Why did the Pharisees condemn Jesus. Was it really because they wanted to do the right thing? Luke 6:7 says that they "watched" Jesus, so "that they might find an accusation against him." They were not trying to do the right thing. They did not care about honoring God on the Sabbath day or they would have tried to honor Him other days also. In reality they viewed Jesus as their competitor, and they attacked and opposed their competition. If the self-righteous, legalistic, religious people of the world opposed Jesus, the sinless Son of God; how are they going to treat you and me? When someone is your enemy, they will have a critical spirit towards you. Those who claim to be believers and who criticize people for what they do on the Sabbath are more like the Pharisees than Jesus.

But Jesus knew what was in man, and he knew what was in the Pharisees. Luke 6: 8-11 says, "But he knew their thoughts and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing, Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? To save life, or to destroy it? And looking round upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus."

The religious leaders did not care about the man with the withered hand, but Jesus did. He always cares about those in need. Jesus did not allow the opinions of others to keep Him from doing the right thing. He did not let the restrictions of others prevent Him from doing what He knew that He had every right to do. The same freedom of action that Christ had is also given to His believers. Do you understand the freedom that you have? Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." We are saved by faith and faith alone when we trust in Jesus Christ and are born again. Do not put yourself once again under the law. Enjoy your freedom.

In these two situations in Luke chapter six where Jesus is criticized for what He did on the Sabbath, we learn two very important principles concerning what we are permitted to do on the Sabbath. These are valuable lessons to learn because even though the Sabbath is really Saturday, some people equate our Christian Sunday to the Sabbath day. To make sure that they do not lay any unnecessary burdens upon you, you must know what your freedoms really are after the example of Jesus.

When Jesus and His disciples were plucking the grain from the fields and preparing their food, what were they doing? They were meeting the basic needs of life. God made us and He gave us the physical needs that we have. It’s never wrong to do what you must do as far as work goes to put food on the table, as long as your work is honorable and legal. There is no day of the week where it is wrong to do just that. When Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day, Jesus asked the question, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? To save life, or to destroy it?" By doing what He did and by asking that question, Jesus was telling us that it’s always right to do good. The question should never be, "What day of the week is this," in order to determine if you should do something or not. The question should simply be, "Is this a good thing to do or not?" Something that is good and right to do on Monday or Tuesday is just as good to do on Saturday or Sunday. Do you want to be like Jesus, or do you want to be like the Pharisees? You had better be careful what you tell people that they cannot do simply because of the day of the week that it is.

The Bible says in Luke 6:12-13, "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles." We are not told what Jesus prayed about, only that He prayed and that He prayed all night. Evidently God did not want us to know exactly what He prayed, or we would have been told. True prayers should never be directed to the ears of man: they should only be directed to God.

We do have one clue to what Jesus prayed about because the next thing that He did was to choose the twelve apostles from all of the people who had become believers in Him. Every believer has a gift and a calling that is unique. God wants some to pursue secular careers and to use such occasions to serve Him. There should be no difference between the secular and the sacred to the Christian. The only question should be; what is the will of God for you to do?

The will of God for twelve of these men was for them to become the apostles. Their names are given for us in Luke 6:14-16 where it says, "Simon, (whom he also named Peter), and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes. And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor." The things that we know about the disciples were recorded for us in the Bible so that we could learn something from those things. In this list of the twelve apostles, we are only given the names, with the exception of one thing mentioned about the first one in the list, Peter; and one thing mentioned about the last one in the list, Judas Iscariot.

Jesus changed the name of Simon to Peter. The name Peter comes from the Greek word for rock. Jesus changed Simon’s name undoubtedly to show that Simon himself would be changed into a better person. Instead of a wavering and inconsistent soul, Simon came to possess a strong and solid character. This would not have happened if he had not become a follower of Jesus. One of the goals of life is to become a better person than what you are right now. That will happen if you follow Christ. With Him you will achieve your greatest accomplishments as a human being. Without Him, you will lose your greatest opportunity: the person that you would have become.

The thing that we are told about Simon Peter reminds us that he became a better person after becoming one of the twelve apostles. But the thing that we are told about Judas Iscariot reminds us that he became a worse person. He started out as one of the twelve apostles, but he ended up being known only as the traitor: and not just any traitor, but the traitor of the Christ. Everyone is heading in some direction. You had better be careful in what direction you are heading spiritually. Any given day you may be at a moral crossroads in which the decision that you make can have grave consequences and long–lasting results. Make a habit of turning from your sins and turning to Jesus, or your own selfish ambitions will destroy you. That’s what happened to Judas Iscariot. If it happened to one of the twelve apostles, it can happen to you.

The Bible says in Luke 6:17-19, "And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And they that were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him and healed them all."

The people came to Jesus for two reasons: to hear and to be healed. They had things in the right order did they not? If you want to be healed from the things that plague you, you must first come to Jesus and hear Him and learn of Him. Notice that those who came to Jesus were both Jews and Gentiles. They came from Judea and Jerusalem, but they also came from Tyre and Sidon. The good news about Jesus Christ the Son of God is for all the world: every race, every kindred, every people, every language. "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Notice that when these people came to Jesus, the Bible says that they "sought to touch Him, for there went virtue out of Him." They correctly recognized that there was something different about Jesus. Jesus had something that they did not have, but that they desperately needed. Jesus had virtue. What a contrast between the sinfulness of man, and the righteousness of God as represented in Jesus Christ! If you desire to know and to have the righteousness of God, then you also will be drawn to Jesus. Those of us who have come to Jesus do not have any righteousness of our own. Jesus is our righteousness, and by the grace and mercy of God we have entered into it. We are talking about the great blessing of imputed righteousness that is given to the believers because of Jesus. The Apostle Paul went into great detail about the doctrine of imputed righteousness in Romans Chapters 3 and 4. Romans 4:6 says, "Even as also David describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works." Speaking of the faith of Abraham, Romans 4:19-25 says, "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also. To whom also it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification."

In this chapter Jesus called the twelve to be His apostles. The word apostle means "one who is sent." Of course, the apostles would be sent out to help spread the good news concerning Jesus. But before they could be sent out on such an important mission, they had to be prepared. They had to spend time with Jesus and learn from Him. The teachings that Jesus gave that are recorded in the rest of this chapter are perhaps the greatest words that were ever spoken upon this earth. We marvel at them. These words give hope to the hopeless and strength to the weak. They are the words of love and faith and graciousness. They abound in the kindness and goodness of God. In these teachings of Jesus are found the highest and most noble of words ever given to mankind. Read these words and think about them and you will find food for your soul, comfort for your sorrows, and the greatest possible foundation for a philosophy of life that will stand the test of time and eternity. You will also find the greatest challenge of all when you attempt to live by them.

The Bible says in Luke 6:20-23, "And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be you poor, for your’s is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice you in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is great in heaven: for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets."

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